Here you’ll find everything I’m preparing in my kitchen - from veggies, to leftovers and pasta. I eat simply, and I cook for one, but love cooking for others. And no matter what, I always pause to plate pretty.
Most of my meals are often times the result of freestyle recipe free ingredient riffing and a trip to the vegetable market. Produce is my passion, and I hope that you won’t simply come here for a recipe - but that you’ll read, cook and create a new story of your own.
I believe there’s power in a stocked pantry and freezer. From traditional Italian dishes to alternative sweets, vegan and vegetarian swaps - there’s something for everyone.
Let this serve as inspiration and let’s eat!
For years I’ve been experimenting with making the perfectly fudgy black bean brownie and I’ve finally gotten to a place where I’m ready to reveal the recipe. I’m also turning 40 and after the word fudgy has been highlighted in red all throughout my word documents, I finally went to the internet only to find out that fudgy is not a real word.
Read MoreThe other morning I woke up to three very ripe bananas hanging from the hook on the far left of my utility stand in my kitchen. I watched them for days, moving from green to perfectly ripe. Eventually they became speckled with spots and then, finally, covered in brown with no prayer to be eaten. I truly had intentions to eat one
Read MoreWhen the mood strikes and I want to bake I have no choice but to apron up and turn on the oven. There’s something about gray days and time spent in my tiny Queens apartment that warrants baking and a vibrancy that can only come from making a cake from scratch. Gone are the days where I wouldn’t bake because I feared eating the whole damn thing.
Read MoreFor the last few days I’ve found myself feeling disconnected. Not as engaged in my own life, perhaps a touch sad and weighed down by myself and my thoughts. Having just written about the ways I try to maintain my “home” I’m totally struggling this week and I believe this is what we call being human. I don’t bake to eat, usually. I bake to get out emotion.
Read MoreAlthough I cannot promote these cookies from a health standpoint - they’re loaded with butter, potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter and white chocolate chips - I can tell you they are holiday cookie swap award winning. I just took home a Starbucks gift card for having won my friends 2018 cookie swap.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up and still, to this day, my mother makes a carrot cake that is to die for. As a child I would sneak slices in the middle of the night while no one was watching; it was just me, my carrot cake and Arsenio. I imagined I’d one day make it on my own, that I wouldn’t have to eat it alone in secret or in shame and that day came.
Read MoreAfter a hot day at the beach, a woman must have her priorities.
1. Make dessert for dinner
2. Get sand off of all belongings
3. Get sand out of crotch and under boobs
Yesterday I met a 5 year old who now eats a few bananas a day because Minions eat bananas and he wants to be funny and strong like a Minion. Thank you my new small friend for making me laugh and sharing in a love for bananas. While he loves bananas because of Minions, I love bananas because they are another vehicle to get chocolate into my mouth. I go wild for Trader Joe’s Gone Bananas, you know, those dark chocolate dipped frozen banana wedges? If you haven’t had them 1) you’re missing out 2) I’ve go you covered 3) don't tell me you do not like bananas, my new buddy will be very disappointed in you!
Read MoreThe base for these here truffles is the great cacao nib, chock full of REAL HEALTH benefits. It's not your over processed, sugar and chemical laden grocery store chocolate, no no no. And the cacao nib health realness surpasses that of the dark chocolate bar (even those of the fancy fair trade variety). Cacao comes from the seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. It's chocolate in its realest and purest state.
And since I'm all for eating to feel good and to look good, let's be real people - eating real food makes ya skin glow like a lightbulb, brings clarity to those peepers,
Read MoreI mentioned it earlier that I'm not a big fan of baking. I enjoy the making of brownies, different types of bars, chocolate barks and nut butter cups and especially my no bake balls. I dabble in the art of raw vegan cookie dough and the other morning while horsing around in the kitchen I happened upon a happy cookie accident.
Read MoreI fancy a bite! All natural, sized accordingly, pops a sweet hit without going into a sugar spiral and has actual health benefits. These make a great accompaniment to a morning yogurt and a mug of joe or snack on one or two with a piece of fruit. Remember, this life is all about listening to your body and balance. Oh, and the other benefit - aside from health and no oven use ... YOU MAKE THEM IN ONE BOWL!
Read MoreAsk anyone that knows me well, I die for pie. I see pie and my eyes get really big, maybe even my boobs rise into my collarbone and I get a little heated. Almost like that time I was in Italy and Tony the Bello of Sorrento walked up to me on the beach while I was eating a loaf of bread in my bathing suit - and then proceeded to ask me out. Pie can last at least a week, while time with a hot man can be fleeting. But, trust me, good pie and man memories both last a lifetime.
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